K2
by Franc Roddam
List Price:
Our Price: $7.25
You Save: $7.70 (52%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $0.40 (click here)
Category: VHS Video
See more movie releases
Buy this VHS video movie at online store in your country
Canada
Canada
VHS Tape Cover Information
Actor: Annie Grindlay, Blu Mankuma, Elena Wohl, Matt Craven, Michael BiehnDirector: Franc Roddam
Producer: Hal Weiner
Producer: Jonathan T. Taplin
Producer: Marilyn Weiner
Producer: Masa Mikage
Producer: Melvyn J. Estrin
Writer: Patrick Meyers
Writer: Scott Roberts
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Original Language), Analog
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, HiFi Sound, NTSC
Running Time: 104 minutes
Release Date: 1998-01-01
Audience Rating: R (Restricted)
Publisher: Paramount
Studio: Paramount
VHS Movie Reviews of K2
Movie Review: K2 -- the latest victims and with further comment ...
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm motivated to write this review well after the fact of the movie's initial release [1991 in Europe and then May of 1992 in the USA] and subsequent DVD release in 2001 because K2 is again in the news with the most recent tragedy of 11 climbers being killed on K2 which occurred on August 1, 2008.
My thrust however is to once again caution at least certain viewers that while K2 is in fact dedicated [superimposed on the screen in the closing scene] to real life K2 summiteers, Jim Wickwire and Dr. Louis Reichardt, and, of note, those movie 'fictional' characters 'Taylor Brooks' and 'Harold Jameson' who just happen to share the identical professions of the real-life Jim Wickwire and Lou Reichardt, viz., lawyer and biophysicist, well, far too often what is seen on the proverbial 'Silver Screen' is erroneously interpreted as take-it-to-the-bank 'fact' versus cinematic 'for the sake of the script and pure entertainment value' fiction!
Put another way, readers are urged to research the actual 1978 K2 climb by, among further others by the way in the same expedition, Jim Wickwire and Lou Reichardt and see what the actual facts really were and are, versus, shall we say, Hollywood creativity. I 'have' actually run across folks who saw the movie and make the transposition, so to speak, of 'Taylor' suddenly becoming Jim Wickwire and 'Harold' or 'H' suddenly becoming Lou Reichardt in their minds and hence their post-movie "conclusion" is that their totally erroneous transposition sees Wickwire supposedly having 'saved Reichardt's life' [!] when Reichardt supposedly 'broke his leg' [!] on the vertical ice fall and Wickwire supposedly 'dragged Reichardt down the mountain as far as he could until the Pakistani helicopter suddenly showed up' [!] -- BIZZZZ! That is total cinematic fantasy! But 'because' of the film dedication and a few minor events that did happen in real life, it's all too easy for some folks to see the movie and feel that it's a sort of 'true event' documentary when in fact the movie is just that, a movie based on 'conjured' events!
That said, I enjoyed the movie. As a fictional movie! Particularly the music! Although my first love is playing classical piano, I've never abandoned my secondary love of the guitar and those high E string lead tones [I don't know who the guitarist was and if anyone does, let me know!] are literally haunting! BTW, the soundtrack that is offered for this movie is ==NOT== the same music in the film! Nor is it 'identical', as one poster suggested in another website, to what he termed a "Pink Floyd rip off" piece. The 'original' music for the K2 movie was by Chaz Jankel and has 'not' been released for whatever unknown reasons!
Final word on the whole, as one Amazon reviewer put it, "brotherhood of the rope" [sic], well, let me quote well known and world class mountaineer, Doc Ed Viesturs, from his "No Shortcuts to the Top" [with David Roberts] tome [?, 2006], page 37, when he rightly says, and my own noting of those 'lines' and 'bottlenecks' of climbers at Everest, K2, et al, where 'some' of these folks have very deep pockets but negligible mountaineering experience come out with, 'Ohhh, it's just a personal challenge ... and it's not like I'm all alone ...', but as Doc Viesturs realistically observes, "The fact is, money can't buy you a summit." Amen!
Doc Tony
Summary of K2
Michael Biehn plays a Seattle attorney who talks his friend, a physics instructor (Matt Craven), into joining a party with plans to climb the tallest and least accessible mountain in the world, K-2. Biehn's arrogant character immediately bumps noggins with the tour's leader (Raymond J. Barry) and the latter's strong-willed girlfriend (Patricia Charbonneau). But when various disasters begin to strike at the group, cooperation ensues, followed by assorted acts of heroism, friendship, and self-sacrifice under almost unimaginable conditions of lethal distress. Based on a play that examined the view on human values from a perch far above the world most of us know, K-2 surrounds that essential drama with extraordinary location footage. Director Franc Roddam (Quadrophenia) succeeds very well at turning a thoughtful piece into a fine action movie--and vice versa. --Tom KeoghAction & Adventure VHS Video
VHS Video Movies
- Action & Adventure
- African American Cinema
- Animation VHS Video
- Anime & Manga
- Art House & International
- Classics VHS Video
- Comedy VHS Video
- Cult Movies
- Documentary
- Drama VHS Video
- Educational
- Fitness
- Gay & Lesbian
- Horror VHS Video
- Kids & Family
- Military & War VHS Video
- Music Video & Concerts
- Musicals & Performing Arts
- Mystery & Suspense
- Science Fiction & Fantasy
- Special Interests
- Sports VHS Video
- Television VHS Video
- Westerns VHS Video
Movies most talked about in Some Climbing Videos & DVD's
The MountainParamount Home Video; Release date: 1995-04-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $29.50
The Eiger SanctionUniversal; Release date: 1998-12-15; DVD
Best price: $7.59
Price in other shops:
Above All Else - The Everest DreamRelease date: 2000-06-26; DVD
Best price: $69.98
Climb Against the OddsNew Video Group; Release date: 1999-11-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $2.20
Price in other shops:
SoloPyramid Home Video; Release date: 1991-08-02; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
Eiger SoloRelease date: 2000-04-15; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Price in other shops:
K2Paramount; Release date: 1998-01-01; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $12.00
Price in other shops:
Altitude with Attitude (Vertical Limit/ Into Thin Air/ Cliffhanger)Release date: 2001-05-22; DVD
Best price: $19.95
Price in other shops:
Zion Canyon - Treasure of the Gods (Large Format)Release date: 2000-06-27; DVD
Best price: $4.08
Price in other shops:
Trailside: Rock Climbing In CaliforniaABC Video / Disney; Release date: 1994-05-18; VHS Tape; VHS Video
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
Similar VHS Movies
Cho Oyu, West of EverestRelease date: 2003-03-05; DVD
Best price: $18.95
Price in other shops:
Cliffhanger (Collector's Edition)Sony; Release date: 2000-06-13; DVD
Best price: $2.60
Price in other shops:
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mt. Everest Disasterby Jon Krakauer
Anchor; Published: 1999-10-19; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.45
Price in other shops:
The Eiger SanctionUniversal; Release date: 1998-12-15; DVD
Best price: $7.55
Price in other shops:
National Geographic - Everest 50 Years on the MountainWarner Brothers; Release date: 2003-05-06; DVD
Best price: $8.49
Price in other shops:
NOVA - Everest: The Death ZoneRelease date: 2000-03-28; DVD
Best price: $10.49
Price in other shops:
Vertical Limit (Special Edition)Sony; Release date: 2001-05-22; DVD
Best price: $2.77
Price in other shops:
Everest (Large Format)Everest; Release date: 1999-12-07; DVD
Best price: $7.35
Price in other shops:
Into Thin Air: Death on EverestSony; Release date: 2001-05-22; DVD
Best price: $3.91
Price in other shops:
Touching the VoidVAS; Release date: 2004-06-15; DVD
Best price: $3.88
Price in other shops: